Min Hyoung-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea was elected the inaugural Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special mayor. Min is a figure who has experienced both the Gwangju–Jeonnam field and national politics, working as a reporter, a civil society activist, a Blue House secretary, a basic local government head, and a National Assembly member.
Min began his career covering local beats for 12 years as a reporter at the Jeonnam Ilbo. He then joined civil society activism as co-representative of Chamyeo Jachi 21 and served in the Roh Moo-hyun administration's Blue House as a personnel management administrative officer and secretary for social coordination.
He also built experience in local administration. Serving as Gwangju Gwangsan-gu chief in the 5th and 6th popular election terms, he pushed to convert non-regular workers to regular positions for the first time nationwide and to introduce direct elections for deputy district chiefs and dong chiefs. In the process, he built an image as a local politician at the forefront of innovative administration.
Under the Moon Jae-in administration, he worked as the Blue House secretary for autonomy and balanced development and as secretary for social policy. He was also involved in key tasks for the Gwangju–Jeonnam region, including the Gwangju-style job initiative, establishing KEPCO University, and creating an AI (artificial intelligence) convergence cluster.
In the 2020 general election, he entered the national political stage by winning a National Assembly seat in Gwangju Gwangsan-gu-eul. In the National Assembly, he was categorized as a hard-liner who led the Democratic Party's reform legislation, including prosecutorial reform. During the phase of adjusting prosecutorial investigative authority, he left the Democratic Party to facilitate passage of the bill and drew attention by joining the agenda coordination committee as an independent. In the process, he also earned the nickname "battle rabbit."
Ahead of Min lies the task of reviving the regional economy and responding to population decline by using the incentives and special city status that come with the Jeonnam–Gwangju integration. The top priority is cited as connecting the integration incentives and special city benefits—amounting to 20 trillion won over four years—to regional growth engines.
In his victory remarks, Min said, "We will firmly establish a Jeonnam-Gwangju citizen-sovereignty government in which citizens are the owners."